Nick Sirianni said he has "a lot of good options" if Gannon/Steichen get head coaching jobs — both internally and externally.
Put another way: This won't catch Sirianni off guard. He's been preparing for this. (He had to think hard about the DC possibilities last year.)
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) January 10, 2023
Nick Sirianni is weeks away from officially having his own coaching tree and with the expectation that a team will likely hire Shane Steichen (OC) and Jonathan Gannon (DC), we’re taking an early look at potential replacements.
Sirianni rightfully gets a lot of credit for the Eagles’ success.
Philadelphia’s second-year head coach has far exceeded expectations and proven that he was the perfect target for the role. However, it’s important to remember that Shane Steichen has a massive role in the offense.
Sirianni described this last summer how involved Steichen is with everything the Eagles have done offensively. He started calling plays late in the 2021 season, playing a pivotal role in the Birds’ offense taking off. It’s a change that carried over into 2022 with Philly boasting one of the top offenses all season.
Interest in Steichen will go beyond his work in Philadelphia. He served as the Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator in 2020, working alongside Justin Herbert in a record-setting rookie season.
Combine his work with Herbert and Jalen Hurts, and that’s a future NFL head coach.
Sirianni knows his assistants are wanted and he has a plan for their departures.
“Of course, I want to keep these guys, they’re great coordinators, but in the event that I lose them, I have an idea of what I want to do at both spots. The answer is sometimes, yes, it’s in the building, and sometimes it’s outside of the building. But I feel like we have a lot of good options, and I feel like we have a lot of good options in the building that we’d be excited about if that were to happen.”
Here are 10 potential targets for Sirianni if Steichen lands a job in the 2023 cycle ranked from best to worst option.